novelraw Chapter 374: Crimson
Chapter 374: Crimson
Under Erwind's extremely astonished gaze, as that radiance rivaling a Mythical Rank magic lit up within Fisher's hand, a darkness seemingly denser than the deepest night spread and grew at the speed of light, completely swallowing all of Erwind's vision in an instant.
Immediately after, amidst the violent and complex resonance of the World's Echo, a web-like dark red lightning was born from the darkness with unstoppable might, transforming into a sharp weapon in the hands of a deity amidst thick clouds.
"Bzzzt! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!"
Raging lightning serpents writhed restlessly as they were hurled by Fisher, who was almost out of distance from Erwind. That abruptly shrieking thunder carried peerless impact, completely piercing through Erwind, pinning him in the chest like a spear thrown by the Mother Goddess. The indescribably massive impact instantaneously penetrated Erwind's body, sweeping up his flesh and blood into the air.
"Rumble!"
Ripples of destruction and lightning spread all the way out. The sound of dreamscapes shattering brought by the massive force, mixed with the intense crackle of lightning, engulfed the vision of everyone present. It was as if they couldn't see anything; only the intense aura of destruction continuously filled their ears.
That spear of thunder pierced straight through the layered, overlapping dream illusions, until it punctured a massive hole through the dream magic constructed by some unknown force. Erwind's figure was also entirely swallowed by the light of destruction and completely vanished, making Fisher lose sense of his aura entirely. Aside from Fisher's continuous panting, there were no other sounds on the entire battlefield.
"Hah..."
Covering his face, which was bleeding from its seven orifices, Fisher curled up where he stood. This magic, which had squeezed dry every last bit of his soul energy, plunged him into extreme weakness. Not only did his head feel like it was splitting in pain, but the aftereffects brought by the Soul Completion Handbook also began endlessly ringing in his ears,
"So empty... eat the soul...""Eat..."
Fisher looked at his own hand with difficulty. Due to the extreme emptiness of his mana right now, his soul had once again produced that sensation of devouring and hunger he experienced last time in Mya.
He still remembered that last time in Mya, when he punched one of Erwind's creations, he was actually able to devour a portion of its soul. Now, this phenomenon had started appearing again in the Crevice, making him wish he could take a bite out of someone else's soul and feast heartily.
"Fisher, where are you?!"
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The dreamscape above was pierced entirely by the dual-circle-head magic Fisher used, revealing the Spirit World Crevice outside, covered by a swath of scarlet radiance.
Valentiina's anxious calls came from afar. Upon hearing the sound, Fisher quickly clutched his stomach and sat up. Adjusting himself a few times, he turned around and watched the church school from his childhood memories crumble bit by bit, and along with it, the young nun leading his little self also vanished bit by bit.
As the church school vanished bit by bit, an indescribable feeling arose in Fisher's heart, but he remained silent for a long time without saying anything.
However, now that Erwind had been dealt with, he must also think of a way to lead Valentiina out of the dreamscape and sever her connection with the Base. Otherwise, that bizarre existence of the Spirit World would descend.
Clutching his stomach, Fisher slowly stood up, preparing to call out to Valentiina,
"Valenti..."
But before Fisher could even finish his sentence, an icy-cold hand suddenly and violently clamped around the back of his neck, accompanied by an extremely thick stench of blood and a chilling sensation surging into his heart.
Fisher's pupils shrank slightly. He twisted his head to look, only to see Erwind's figure having appeared behind him at some unknown point. Only, at this moment, his soul was riddled with holes; having just been struck by the Killing Dragonspear, his condition was clearly in critical peril.
His entire body exuded a frail, shattered feeling, but that terrifying bird-beak mask still flashed with cold light. He stared fixatedly at Fisher and growled lowly,
"Did you think you had shaken me off, Fisher?!"
Erwind violently hugged the near-exhausted Fisher from behind. His flickering body pressed tightly against Fisher's back. As if having anticipated this, he merged together with Fisher under the suction produced by Fisher's mutated soul.
In an instant, as Erwind behind him voluntarily merged into his soul, a scent of rice that Fisher had never smelled anywhere before inevitably surged before his eyes and under his nose. Somewhat panicked, he looked up, and in a daze, he saw a boundless, golden wheat field before him. In front of him, a red-haired little girl was running with her hands behind her back, turning her head back occasionally to look at him.
"Tolga!"
This was Erwind's memory!
He was merging with Erwind's soul because of the mutation caused by the Soul Completion Handbook!
"Holding onto a thing like the Completion Handbook, do you think you can escape the destination ahead? Even you yourself have unconsciously stepped onto the path seeking truth. Human, are you still a human? If you insist on opposing me, it doesn't matter. I don't care whether I can see the so-called truth at all, but I must pass on my convictions. Even if you arrive at the destination, it absolutely doesn't matter..."
Erwind sneered coldly. His hands plastered against Fisher's chest seemingly sank in like quicksand, sinking deeper and deeper very quickly. As if this wasn't enough, he violently raised the bird-beak mask on his face. In this moment, that dead object-like mask seemingly truly became Erwind's face. It opened a bloody, gaping mouth like a crow toward Fisher and viciously bit down on his neck.
As a surge of intense pain transmitted from the bitten area, the mad ravings beside Fisher's ears drilled uncontrollably into his brain. This time, it wasn't just the Soul Completion Handbook; there were also other sounds he couldn't hear clearly at all but were enough to drive him crazy. His eyes went entirely bloodshot as he fell to his knees on the ground. His vision flickered between seemingly knee-deep dead rotting pus, golden rice fields with faint fragrance, and Elizabeth's calling voice.
"Erwind!"
Fisher forced himself to muster his spirit and roared. Gritting his teeth, he pushed back against Erwind's continuously sinking body, trying forcefully to push him away. But Fisher's soul completely disobeyed his subjective will, uncontrollably generating an extremely strong suction force wanting to fully devour Erwind behind him.
"Fisher! How are you?!"
In the distance, Valentiina flew over. Seeing the bizarre stalemate between the heavily wounded Fisher and Erwind, her pupils shrank slightly, and she subconsciously wanted to rush over to his side. But Fisher had already seen her in advance and immediately shouted loudly,
"Don't come over!"
Valentiina stared blankly, halting in place. Suddenly she saw that on Fisher, who currently had a malevolent expression, mouths thirsty for blood opened up one after another, conversely biting and tearing at Erwind's body behind him. For a moment, she somewhat couldn't understand the current situation, and could only listen to Fisher's words, not daring to act rashly.
Sensing Fisher opening mouths to bite and tear at his own soul, Erwind sneered coldly. He took a bite of Fisher's soul at his neck. The splashing blood, representing soul fragments, wriggled like living things, burrowing underneath Erwind's mask. However, he sneered as if he couldn't feel the pain at all,
"Fisher, look at your soul. You've always known you're getting further and further away from humanity; is there any difference between you and me? But even so, your consciousness remains clear. I cannot peek at the entirety of the Magic Lord's secrets, and that liar Fate Lord, with no ability but a mouth full of lies, chose you this time. Good, then I'll entrust everything I obtained from the Life Completion Manual to you; let me see how far you can walk!"
"You madman..."
Fisher gritted his teeth, wanting to push Erwind away, but the suction produced by his own soul completely offset his own will, making it entirely impossible for him to push Erwind away. He also didn't dare let Valentiina come over, because he could sense his soul's thirst for Valentiina's soul; it wanted to eat Valentiina too...
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Right then, as the aftershock of their battle spread out little by little, these layered dreamscapes also gradually collapsed and shattered. The crimson energy outside receded like a tide, seemingly disappearing completely. Yet, as that crimson energy receded bit by bit, the collapse of the surrounding dreamscapes quickened.
The ceaselessly ringing sounds of glass shattering accompanied the scenes familiar to Fisher and Erwind vanishing bit by bit. Along with them, the time and space of the real world—stalled by that energy—also began flowing anew.
Valentiina's sprinkled blood on the ground flowed bit by bit toward the incomplete Base. As drop after drop of Phoenix blood fully flowed into the Base, outside the shattered dream in the Crevice, the shadow of the giant tree serving as the Base also became solid, signifying that it had become complete anew.
The contamination of the Spirit World was about to descend.
"Kononinnihamugasmujin s, mu shuj smu hisashi mono s gaarimasu"
In the very next moment, a terrifying aura sufficient to make any living creature, wisdom, or consciousness collapse immediately locked onto that gradually completing Base from the deep layers of the world. Consecutive whispers Fisher had never heard before and whose exact meaning he did not know—like a singing murmur—transmitted from all directions within this Crevice. Just upon hearing this simple murmur, the mana circuits of everyone present suddenly lit up, their figures swaying along with it.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Subsequently, outside the dreamscape, the Spirit World shackles representing The [Gate] unavoidably snapped bit by bit. The rules constructed by Dagon shattered as if they were made of nothing before that terrifying existence.
Boundless scarlet mist roared out from the crevice of that severed door. Seemingly without exerting any strength, it effortlessly pushed the shattered door of the Spirit World wider and wider open, very quickly revealing from within an indescribable entity even more massive than a galaxy, flashing with scarlet radiance.
That gigantic existence was covered by thick scarlet mist, thus making it impossible for humans to pry into its true appearance. The moment that bizarre scarlet mist was about to enter the Crevice, Its figure suddenly paused, as if behind It—deep within the Spirit World—another existence was currently stopping Its movement from entering the Crevice.
But ultimately, the Base constructed by the Phoenix Race was already complete. The power behind It and the rules of the Crevice were clearly hard to contest before Its power, and It still inched toward the Base bit by bit.
Its body had not fully entered the Crevice, but the boundless scarlet mist around it had already transmitted into the Crevice, corroding and destroying the space of the Crevice bit by bit. Despite being very, very far from the shattered doorway, Fisher still suddenly smelled an extremely peculiar scent at the tip of his nose, seemingly the most fragrant scent in this world, causing Fisher's hairs to stand on end.
And it was exactly at this moment that another voice sounded intermittently behind him,
"Close your eyes..."
Although the pronunciation of the Naris Language was slightly strange, Fisher instantly recognized this familiar voice; it was exactly the big eye that spoke to him once when he was on the Southern Continent—
Dagon!
The terrifying fluctuations outside did not interrupt his stalemate with Erwind, but also because of this sudden turn of events, it caused Erwind to temporary stall his progress of wanting to merge into his body. This allowed Fisher to take a deep breath; he quickly followed the instruction while turning his head to shout at the nearby Valentiina,
"Valentiina, close your eyes! Don't look up!"
"Ware s sunawati hi sninsshuj s"
The desolate murmur remained as before. Within this sprawling Crevice, the boundless dreamscape layer Fisher stood upon collapsed layer upon layer. Yet, this originally spectacularly grand magic was akin to a drop in the ocean before the terrifying contamination in the distance, entirely incomparable.
However, within this dreamscape, the stalemate between him and Erwind behind him seemingly became magnified infinitely, exactly synchronized as a replica...
They, too, fell into an entangled stalemate.